Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

from whi ch the noun is derived is "to miss the mark," as for examp le, if someone
throw s a spearand it fails to hit its target, or if an archer 's arrow does not hit the
intended mark. According to Liddell and Scott's A Gruk·Engluh Lexicon, the verb
also means the foUawing: "to fail one's purpose" or "to go wrong" as in the case of
Penelope's suitors who were unable to string Odysseus' bow (OdySS£j XXI.lSSff);
"fail of having: or "be deprived. of;" and rarel y means, "fail to do," "neglect." "do
wrong ." "err. " or "sin" (n). The meanin g, "to missthe mar k. It in the ancien t Greek:
context bas no moral or religious eonnotUioos; it is jwt a commentary 00 an action .
While Stephen Halliwell in his interpretation of Aristotle's Poetics suggests that the
common premise underlying reversal . recogni tion and hamartia is human ignorance .
he says that hamartia ough t to be located "som ewhere in the space betw een guilt and
vulnerability to arbitrary misfortune" (220) .25
Within the context of the plot of Ckdipus Ra. Oedipus is doomed from binh
and he is subjected to the will of the gods; whether or not the Greek gods are
irrational is besides the poin t. When the account of Oedipus and his mother is
mentioned in the Odyssey. it is relatedas a matter of fact. "but in time the gods made
the deeds known to men. He (Oedipus] ruled the Cadmean people in lovely Tbebe(sl
in suffering woes. through the dreadful plan of w gods .. •• (XI.274-276, italics
mine.). Similarl y, Sophoc les includes in his plot the Delphic oracle concerning
Oedipus and simply presents him as a character who commits acts that are abomin able
to the gods, without passing any moral or religious judgement on Oedipus. Although
72